Did you get a walk in table today?
nah, just noticed a fair number of empty tables near us. But I think it’s purposeful so not sure how much quicker a walk in would get in.
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I went last weekend with a friend and he put his name down as a walk in at 5:30 and we only got seated around 8:30. Luckily we just hung out at Kato for most of the wait.
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Wow that’s some real patience, thanks for the info!
I was thinking about doing a walk up bang bang with kato but that doesnt seem realistic
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I was there on friday and they were seating almost all the walk-ins for at least the first 30-60 minutes of opening.
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Sounds like Saturdays are the roughest for walk-ins.
Thanks for the perspective!
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PSA–Went today (Tuesday) for lunch. There were 2 people in line when we got there at 11:30 and 12 people in line shortly thereafter. Took about 15 minutes to get food. We sat outside on a wonderfully pleasant Southern California day.
Ordered the green slice, lemon slice, and mortadella sandwich. Loved the green slice–I love good creamed spinach, which this was very reminiscent of. Lemon slice was good but too much bread. Add the sandwich–which I liked with the goat cheese–and lunch was just too bready for me. Next time, will order a salad instead of the sandwich or one slice of pizza. Great QPR though. Our total for the three things came out to $25 before tip.
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do the reservations open at midnight for 3 months in advance?
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Date Night…
Starting with excellent Cocktails at Kato.
Bee’s Knees - Milk Washed Ford’s Gin Shaken, Orange Blossom Honey, Sansho Pepper, Lemon & Bancha / Old-fashioned - Kavalan Distillery Select Whisky, Hoshigaki & Angostura Bitters
Followed by an excellent dinner at Pizzeria Bianco
Sky Vineyards, Zinfandel 2014, Napa Valley / Idewild, Cortese 2018, Mendocino
The server, Andrea, and I were trying to come up with a full-bodied wine that could possibly make my husband forget it’s not an old-fashioned. The Sky Zin did a pretty good job - big, jammy, dark fruits, licorice, peppery and earthy too - I got wet bamboo on the nose and palate which is probably what one taster’s note called forest floor. My golden hued Cortese was quite nice. No discernible aroma but the texture is thick and the flavors are of lemon, tropical fruits, honey. It went well with the Rosa Pizza, the antipasto’s olive oil slicked trumpet shrooms & delicata squash. I must’ve had a good time… I’m describing wine. 
Antipasto - Croccolo Cheese, Salami, Stuffed Delicata Squash, Trumpet Mushrooms, Peppers, Spicy Pickled Things
It’s as tasty as it is colorful. The fantastic, long-aged Croccolo has most likely spoiled me for other pecorinos. It was the counterpoint and compliment to everything on the antipasto plate and at this point I’m starting to get an inkling of Chris Bianco’s famously ingredient driven menus.
Farinata w/Black Olives, Onion & Rosemary
I love chickpeas (it’s made with chickpea flour), love pancakes & crepes and it’s a firmer textured combination of both. We topped it with some of the antipasto and ate it with a fork.
Fennel Sausage
Another delicious topper. Crispy porky deliciousness w/a sprinkling of fennel seeds and a pepper kick. Not typically an Italian sausage lover but these are sliced thin and crispy like sausage bacon. 
I couldn’t stop popping them in my mouth. Hubs topped a few on his Sonny Boy Pizza for a meat lover’s pizza sitch.
Half Rosa & Sonny Boy… you can do halfsies!
Yep, my husband thinks Chris Bianco is definitely the Pope of Pizza. He LOVES this pizza. He had his eyes closed and was slowly shaking his head as he ate the Sonny Boy. The cornicione is light, puffy, chewy, right amount of char with a thin center that’s saucy & olive oily but not soupy making it a perfectly foldable slice. And that wonderful, soft, oh so stretchy Mozzarella is another spoiler. Ingredients! Can’t forget the salty, porky, kicky goodness of the Soppressata and the mildly briny Black Olives. Staff is very accommodating. I mentioned that I really wanted to the try the Rosa w/Parmigiano Reggiano, Red Onions, Rosemary and Santa Barbara Pistachios, but I don’t like a lot of rosemary. Done! Not a lot of rosemary. So good! I can understand why it’s been hard to pinpoint what style Bianco’s pizza is and I’m definitely not an expert, so I’ll just say that like Nancy Silverton’s signature pizza crust this is Chris Bianco style. Thanks Chef!
Strawberry Sorbetto w/Whipped Cream & Lemon Zest and Lemon Cookies
Another dish that is one thing but like another thing although idk exactly what the other thing is. It’s sorbet with concentrated strawberry flavor but w/a denser almost cakey quality. Cakey? That can’t be right. And that foamy whipped cream! It’s like eating a parfait. Oh and I love lemon cookies. 
Atmosphere and service was warm and inviting. Sergio was in da’ house greeting everyone like an old friend and some seemed to be. There was also another illustrious Sergio in da’ house… David Chang & friends were posted-up on the patio all night.
Best evening we’ve had in a while. Thanks @PorkyBelly for the now nearly impossible to get resy!
Happy Bianco is in LA!
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I don’t think it’s a strict midnight drop situation. You can go on OpenTable any time of the day and make a resy but the resy will be 3 months out. I made one a couple days ago for January, but we’re also going to try a weekday walk-in.
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hi @TheCookie,
are those grilled jimmy nardellos in the antipasto? they were so good when i went the other night. what was your favorite? thanks.
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Hi @PorkyBelly
Oh yes, thanks for identifying the peppers. 
A tasty bite was a sweet roasted pepper, slice of salami, crumble of croccolo and the farinata, also tasty on the stuffed delicata. What was my favorite? Tough one. I give the delicious Rosa with the olive oil, tangy parmesan, rosemary, onions and nutty pistachios the creative edge. But I think the Sonny Boy gets the overall edge. It’s f-ing delicious, of course, but it seems like a signature of Chef’s work, sourcing, his tomato sauce, the dough and that incredible mozzarella. But! I was surprised at how much I liked the crispy fennel sausage! This was the porkiest meal I’ve had in months! 
Thanks.
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Review forthcoming?
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hi @TheCookie
we ordered ooe small plate and four halfsies: rosa / biancoverde and margherita / wiseguy. the serendipitous sausage penetration into the margherita is my new favorite pizza at bianco, so good 
. it was like finding bonus fries at the bottom of your bag. I’ll be ordering the marg add sausage (aka the @lapizzamaven) from now on. thanks.
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Hi @PorkyBelly
So good, right? 
What is the rustic, autumn colored carrot dish?
Did they put your fennel sausage on the pizza? We requested it but it came as a diy side.
What did you think of the strawberry parfait not parfait?
Thanks.
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hi @TheCookie
we did a half wiseguy and half margherita, the wiseguy comes with sausage and some of the sausage from the wiseguy half made its way to the margherita half.
the weiser farms carrots came with honeynut squash cream and pepitas.
if you eat the strawberry sorbetto, whipped cream and lemon cookie all together it tastes like a strawberry shortcake
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Oh right! The serendipitous sausage penetration… happy accident! I am so gonna try to make that carrot, squash cream, pepita dish!
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Maybe I’ll have to try the sausage again, but I didn’t love it the first time and I’m usually a huge sausage guy. Everyone else seems to love it.
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many thanks, porkyBelly!!! im considering myself an “influence” from now on! it is great…ive gotta wait a month for my date with dinner at Bianco!!!
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im very likely gonna steal that phrase, Cookie!!! serendipitous sausage penetration! luv it!
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